The Birdman
by thistlethoughts
Summary: A strange girl is kidnapped from her village by the mysterious birdman. Involves an evil fairies, changelings and totem animals. The first chapter is short but don't take that as an indication of the other chapters' lengths. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

The Birdman

"And he let out his heartbreaking screech, then the villagers knew another was lost. His beak is always red stained with the blood of his victims."

"How does he choose his victims" Anneliese asked her eyes burning with black magic.

Marie looked away uncomfortably "you really shouldn't ask such questions."

"Why not" her husky voice contrasting with Marie's soft one.

Marie hesitated and turned towards the window "it just doesn't feel right."

Anneliese sat upright " Tell me about the time you met a fairy then".

Marie smiled weakly " you're seventeen and you speak as though they actually exist".

Anneliese sighed "never mind then. I'm tired anyway" She rolled over and closed her eyes. She listened to Marie's footsteps as she walked away and shut the door, but not completely it brushed the door frame.

Anneliese did not like to sleep, she focused her attention on the faraway voices of her parents in the kitchen.

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"It know it's ridiculous, but sometimes she scares me" said Marie.

Carl laughed "she's your daughter!"

"is she?"

At this Carl glanced at her sharply "what do you mean".

Marie sighed and leaned against the bench "you know I've never felt connected to her, ever since I saw her in her cradle, I don't feel like she's mine. She doesn't even look like either of us."

Carl raised one of her eyebrows "well I don't know, she looks a bit like an aunt of mine".

Marie looked exasperated "Carl, I'm not supposed to feel this way, this is not how a mother feels. It wasn't like this with Max, Johnny or Caleb. What's wrong with me?"

Carl faced her and held her arm "there's nothing wrong with you, no one understands teenagers. There's nothing to worry about, Anneliese is not off the rails she is a lovely girl. You did a good job of raising her."

Marie smiled weakly, he didn't understand "do you remember the incident?"

"Oh gosh, do I! This village is bonkers". He shook his head and muttered something.

----------

Anneliese was staring blankly at the wall. She knew how her mum felt, she could sense the detachment too. But unlike Marie there was no pain on her part only indifference "I have a cold heart" she mouthed.


	2. Chapter 2

The Incident

There was Shona, Lilly, Georgia and Melanie. Anneliese stood slightly apart from them, part of the circle, yet not. Her arms were tightly folded and she looked like she wanted to withdraw into herself, yet her head was held high.

The ball was coming up and so they were discussing their dream dates. To tell the truth Anneliese felt herself slightly above this type of conversation but she still wanted to feel part of the group. Lilly held her hand on her heart "my heart belongs to King Greenwood"

Georgia poked her tongue out "Ewww. You know he is about forty years old. An old man!"

Lilly winced 'Not an old man!".

"Prince Lennox" Melanie said smartly, cutting into their feud "He is our age at least".

"Oh yes" they seemed to collectively sigh. Shona was not part of their daze though, she gave an apologetic smile to Anneliese "how about you".

Anneliese just shook her head slightly, she had no idea "how about you" she shot right back at her.

Melanie broke out of her trance and broke into Shona's reply "No princes could compare to Shona's Johnny" she said. Shona blushed bright red negating the need for any reply.

Anneliese grinned to herself she had a hunch Johnny's feelings for her were mutual. She was glad, she liked Shona.

Melanie now turned piercing comments on Anneliese "Suppose you think you're above this do you Annie?"

Melanie on the other hand irritated her beyond belief, that smug look just made her want to say anything to shock, disturb that confident act. She knew a second too late that although her words achieved their aim, they went perhaps too far.

"If only I had the love of the birdman" she said drily.

There was a pause which lasted for far to long. Lilly squeaked. Melanie shook her head at Anneliese with a look of disgust. At that moment the bell rang, and what was a circle split into two groups one with Anneliese the other with the four girls.

Georgia muttered to lilly "she sure knows how to alienate herself. We try to include her."

Melanie piped up "Oh don't bother Georgia. She thinks she's superior to all of us, she'll probably be glad if we all leave her alone".

"I don't think she wants that" said Shona quietly, Melanie ignored her.


	3. Chapter 3

**I know another short chapter, I can't help it they just turn out this way. I have a question about format - should it be all spread out like that?**

* * *

The Future-Seer

Johnny was making string patterns between his fingers, he was quite adept at it. Anneliese coughed and he looked up.

"Have you asked anyone to the ball" she asked.

Johnny turned his eyes back to the string and tried to appear nonchalant "No...why?"

"Not even Shona?" she kept a solemn face.

He broke off his act " Has she said something?" he asked suddenly eager.

Anneliese winked "just ask her o.k". Anneliese a matchmaker, who would've thought. She felt proud, matchmaking was something a normal girl does.

Johnny grinned "Want to hear something sad about Melanie". This was his way of saying thank you.

"Of course" she smiled wickedly.

At this Carl emerged from the kitchen and stood in the doorway "go on" he said grinning cheekily, he was no fan of Melanie's.

Johnny laughed "the future-seer said she would have love troubles. Melanie is furious".

Carl turned back to the dishes "I hope she marries the birdman after the hell she's put Anneliese through".

"Carl!" Marie had come back in from the garden, she looked shocked and pale.

Carl slumped "Oh Marie, not you too. As though saying his name will invoke him. He hasn't taken anyone in years, he probably doesn't even hang around these woods anymore".

You could see the anger rising in Marie as he said this, as soon as he finished she yelled "that's the exact attitude which has made Anneliese an outcast!".

"Well maybe this village should grow up! There is no birdman, he doesn't exist." He paused and then raised his arms in a sacrificial gesture "I Carl call on the birdman to smite me down if he is listening". There was silence as they all watched him. The clock ticked five seconds, then everyone including Carl breathed a sigh of relief. Marie began to sob, Carl went over and put his arms around her.

--------

Anneliese shut herself in her room, just like that all the normalness was gone – teasing her brother, matchmaking, Melanie gossip, all overshadowed by this dark presence. Rain was lashing the windows, It was fine a minute ago. She needed to get out of this village, where the dark clouds hung all year.


	4. Chapter 4

The time you met a fairy

Everyone has a dark side, except Marie, she had a dark fairy. It was not surprising she drew such a creature to her side, Marie had golden hair, which everyone knows attracts fairies. What's more she had the sensitive nature which allowed her to see such creatures like Cleardance, even if she hadn't met Cleardance she would've been sure to found some other "imaginary" friend.

It started off innocently enough, Marie was lonely, Cleardance was lonely, together they were happy. Once Cleardance realized what a hold she had on Marie as her only companion, that's when things went wrong. Luckily Marie wasn't stupid, she knew it wasn't a good idea to put rat poison in her mother's milkshake "for fun", but Cleardance soon figured out how to manipulate Marie's character.

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Marie and Cleardance were sitting at the edge of the woods, which was considered a danger in itself, but it was so hot, besides the village hysteria had cooled as no one had been taken in quite some time – things were as peaceful (and sunny) as they got in Cold Gate.

"Paper, scissors, rock"

"Ha, rock crushes scissors!" Cleardance was gleeful. Marie was glad, Cleardance had been in a sour mood plus she was bored, Marie had noticed that this combination had unsettling results.

"Truth or dare?" Cleardance asked.

"Truth"

"No fair! I already know everything about you" Cleardance thought for a moment, then grinned narrowing her eyes "Who do like?"

"Everyone"

"answer the question properly" she demanded, her smile gone.

Marie tossed her head "You ought to have been more specific".

Cleardance stood up, "answer the question or do the dare".

Marie wasn't going to be quelled by one of Cleardance's tantrums but she was interested in what the dare would be, Cleardance obviously already had one in mind, "What's the dare?"

Cleardance looked up above her head at the canopy of the woods, Marie followed her gaze.

"You like to balance don't you?" Cleardance asked.

"well yes..."

"but..."

"well it's awfully high... and some of those branches don't look very stable"

"I'd catch you" Cleardance said simply, looking up at the branches. Marie snorted and Cleardance's eyes snapped back to her, "What, you think I can't?"

Marie could sense the defensiveness in Cleardance's voice but she couldn't help stating the obvious, "well you're not exactly the most responsible person, are you?"

Cleardance came up close to Marie inhumanly quick, her nose a few inches away, "When have I ever let you down, have I not come every time you called, and you always call. If I say "I'll catch you" then I will. Now are you going to do the dare?"

Marie nodded mutely, her expression blank. She walked over to the tree trunk and could feel Cleardance's eyes piercing her back. Trying not to think about it she hooked her arm over a branch and began to climb. When she reached the part where the trees' arms linked, creating a balancing pole, she felt dizzy. She didn't look down, she focused her vision on the opposite tree trunk, feeling her mind steady she lifted her arms.

She walked three steps and then a bird caw echoed eerily through the deafening silence. Was it the birdman? Marie tried to look behind her, but her back foot began to slip. With her focus out of kilter she couldn't re-balance herself and she knew she was going to fall.

Thump. Marie's eyes were tightly shut, hitting the ground wasn't so bad, it didn't even feel like she had broken anything. She opened her eyes, she was on the ground, but what were those round objects cutting into her back? She rolled over and groaned.

"Are you quite alright m'lady?" A boy her own age asked. He was on his knees now and she realized that the round objects had been his arms, he had caught her. Marie blinked at him blankly, "You caught me".

"Not very successfully clearly. Are you hurt?"

"Uh no. Thank you."

"You're quite welcome m'lady" he said then bowed, when he righted his floppy fringe covered half his face so all you could see was his cheeky grin.

"why are you speaking that way?" Marie asked, now beginning to look around to see where Cleardance had got to.

"What way?"

"That poncy "m'lady" and "quite" way" she said putting on a haughty accent.

He shrugged, "The situation seemed to call for it."

This perplexed Marie for a moment. Then some unpleasant thought struck her and she huffily put her hands on her hips, "I'm not some damsel in distress!"

He shoved his hands into his pockets looking intensely uncomfortable under her glare, "Hmmm yes, I can see I was quite mistaken" there was an awkward pause, "well good day to you then" he turned around and began to walk away.

"Hey wait" She caught up with him, "What's your name?"

He turned around and smiled, "I'm Carl"

"Pleased to meet you kind sir"

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The next day Marie asked Cleardance where she had been.

"Where was I when?"

"When I fell from the tree! What else could I mean."

"Well I never saw you fall from a tree did I!"

Marie spluttered, "What! You were right there, you said you'd catch me, remember?"

Cleardance's stupefied face relaxed "oooh yeah. I was pissed off when you said you didn't trust me, so I left while you were climbing the tree".

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry the last chapter was so confusing. Anneliese is the main character but I switched to Marie's point of veiw temporarily (I only plan to do this once or twice more). Chapter 4 was a flashback, Marie was only about 11 or 12, maybe younger.**

* * *

A Prophesy

Lilly was gone. She went to bed one ordinary day, then next morning she wasn't there. To comfort the family people were making up all sorts of garbage about teenagers often running away. Everyone knew what had happened though, it had happened several times before, yet not for years.

Walking along the school corridor someone slammed into Anneliese's shoulder as she walked past. "Hey!" she yelled but then seeing who it was quickly modified her tone "Hey Georgia. I'm sorry about Lilly". Georgie whirled around, her eyes looked glazed and hard "yeah?.. Not sorry enough."

Anneliese was taken aback, she looked around her as if to find someone who would explain this outburst to her, a few people looked over their shoulders as they passed but no one stopped.

Georgia appeared to take further offence at Anneliese's shock "Oh yeah, go ahead and look all innocent and victimised. As though you didn't make this happen"

"Aye?.. But I didn't"

Georgia made a cough of disgust, her eyes bulged "You call on the birdman and ,lo and behold, someone disappears. I'm just sorry it wasn't you".

Anneliese at this point took on a more patronising voice than intended, "but Georgia, you don't make someone disappear just by saying the word birdman".

"yeah, tell that to Lilly" Georgia stormed off.

----------

Most children in Cold Gate went to the future-seer at least once in their life. It could help them to make a career decision, or warn then of an upcoming danger (parents often encouraged the meeting for this reason).

It was well after all of her school friends that Anneliese was offered the chance to go to the future-seer. Marie was particulary apprehensive about the meeting, but could not explain why. Anneliese was looking forward to it, she was curious about the future, and very hopeful that the future-seer may get to the bottom of her unusual psyche.

Anneliese sat on the edge of the couch, slightly hunched over as she waited for the future-seer. The wind chimes dinged in the light breeze, it managed to be both a comforting and eerie sound in the silence. Anneliese put her chin in her hands, but thought this looked bored, so put them in her lap, but that position seemed too prim and formal.

Interrupting her darting eyes the future-seer emerged through a bead curtain. She was quite a presence, large, jolly and red. Like a female Santa Claus. She was not conventionally intimidating but Anneliese was worried all the same – being a low energy type of person, it was often stressful to keep afloat of bubbly conversation.

"Are you alright darling?" The future-seer asked, more loudly than neccessary.

"Yes thank you." Anneliese looked around for something to say, she spotted a newpaper article pinned to the wall "I was just reading that article" she said.

The future-seer gazed fondly at the article "ahh yes, one of my proudest moments. You know, you might not be sitting here in Cold Gate if not for me".

Anneliese quickly skim read the article so she knew what the future-seer was talking about. Apparently she had warned the village about a boy who was planning to burn the village down. "How did you know" she asked, meaning how did she know what he was planning.

The answer was a little disturbing. "Why I read his future my dear. Now shall we begin?" she said sitting down and closing her eyes.

"Hope I'm not planning any fires" Anneliese said changing her sitting position again in discomfort.

The future-seer opened one eye, her smile pulled straight, "that's not funny dear".

I wasn't being funny, Anneliese thought.

The future-seer turned her palms upwards on her knees, a minute later a humming noice seemed to be emitting from the back of her throat. All of a sudden the humming shut off, and the future-seer began to make answering "mm hmm" noises as though she were having a telephone conversation. Continuing her conversation with the invisible person she said, "Well that's no good. Is there no good news I can give her, I'm afraid she's had rather a rough time... o.k then, thank you very much".

The future-seer came out of her trance, she gave Anneliese a pitying smile, "you know sometimes I'm wrong, but I'm afraid I was told, quite clearly, that you were fated to marry a hidious monster."

----------

"Awww cheer up Anneliese" Johnny clapped her back, "maybe it was metaphorical, maybe you'll just marry someone with a hidious _character_"

"Gee, thanks for the positive spin".

Although her brothers and even Anneliese herself were taking the prophesy lightly, Carl, surprisingly, wasn't.

"You think it was me don't you" he said to Marie.

Marie was busy folding washing, her eyes clouded by dreaming "what was you?"

"You know, all this disappearing, first Lilly then Ariel. Then the prophesy. It was me with that stupid birdman speech, wasn't it?"

Marie still looked absent "no it wasn't you".

Carl tried to catch her eyes "listen to me would you. You were right I never should have mentioned the birdman, he does exist, it was my fault. You can lay on the guilt now, I deserve it".

Marie shook her head, rolling her eyes she laughed, "Look! It wasn't you o.k, I'm sorry I was mad before, but it's not you. You know me, I have pretty sharp intuition."

There was a long pause as Carl thought, then he appeared to come to some to some sort of conclusion "You sure?"

"A hundred percent"

Carl left the room, his guilt temporarily relieved. When he was gone Marie whispered to the air, "Cleardance, stop all of this right now. Whatever you want me to do I'll do it, o.k? Just stop this madness."

Nobody answered her plea though, Cleardance was ignorant of any of Cold Gate's troubles.


	6. Chapter 6

**I know you must be getting pretty fed up with all these flashbacks, but this is the last one. And I promise in chapter 7 the birdman will finally appear.**

* * *

First Date

**Marie is 13.**

Something was wrong, Marie could sense it from the moment she woke up. Something about the quality of the air, or was it the light, was different. Something was warped. She only had a second to recognize this though, before her air supply was cut off. Hands were wrapped around her throat and their was a heavy weight on her chest. She starred wildly about her, her room went blurry, then the weight and hands lifted.

Marie coughed and dragged in heavy gasping scraps of oxygen. When she had recovered slightly, she bolted upright. Cleardance was sitting on the edge of her bed, "I couldn't be bothered waiting for you to wake up".

Marie rubbed her throat "So you decided to kill me?" her voice was scratchy.

"Well there was more to it than that" Cleardance was not looking at her. She had her legs crossed and arms folded, she looked like a fed up business woman. "So... about this boy... Carl. Hope he's a good replacement for me".

"Cleardance! I didn't replace you, I left you – a year ago"

"yeah, and who did you leave me for - that smart arse boy who can't see past his own brilliance"

"You let me drop from a tree"

"fine, we'll pretend that that's what it's about. It doesn't matter, I'm never taking you back"

"I don't want to be "taken back", you never owned me"

Marie's reasoning just seemed to bounce right off Cleardance, " Do you think he can understand you like I did. I've seen him, not a spark of magic to him. It'll never last, he'll leave you, just like your father."

"Cleardance get out!"

Cleardance just ignored her and began to speak louder, " And then you'll be left with no one, not even me. Do you think he'll like you still when he discovers your mother is a loony? He can't see me, he'll probably think you're a loony."

Marie picked up her lamp "I'm warning you..."

"You and me both know that'll fly right through me. This whole village thinks I'm just in your head, don't you see? This village will never accept you".

Marie fell back into her bed and smushed her face into her pillow, "Pleease, just leave me alone" she said muffled.

Cleardance's face fell when she realized she was beaten. But after a few minutes in thought an idea struck her "I ought to do something about this Carl, you know, for your own good".

That got Marie's attention "what are you going to do", with her face out of her pillow Cleardance could see tears were running down her face, she felt no remorse though.

"I could arrange for him to have an unfortunate accident" Cleardance smiled as various scenarios flitted through her mind.

Marie sighed "I give up Cleardance, what do you want from me".

"Revenge"

"And so you're going to hurt Carl."

"Yes, you're rather slow today, aren't you?"

Marie turned away from Cleardance "fine, do what you like to him, what do I care?"

"You don't care about Carl?"

"Sure I do, but it's not like anything bad is going to happen to me. If you have to do this, better the "accident" befalls someone else".

Cleardance laughed, "You're more like me than you think. But I must have my full revenge" and with that she disappeared. Marie felt a burning sensation on her face, she was glad as she had saved Carl, but now she was extremely scared about what would happen to her. She stood in front of her mirror with her eyes tightly closed, her heartbeat was going bonkers and she felt so sick she was sure she would have to dash to the toilet. She opened one eye, her face was a mass of red, oh no what had happened. She quickly opened both eyes her face was covered in glistening red swellings. They were huge each bump blending into the next, she looked like a monster.

----------

Carl knocked at the door, Marie's mother answered "Who are you?" she asked in monotone, there was something about Marie's mother, Muriel, like she wasn't quite on earth.

Carl poked his head around the door "Hey, is Marie here?"

"Yes, but she doesn't want to see you. She says she doesn't like you anymore."

Carl grinned slightly worriedly "Well that's no fair, we haven't even been out once yet".

"Well that's what she said" Muriel began to close the door.

"Hey, hey! Hang on! I have a message for her. You can tell her that I'm not moving from this spot until she comes down and tells me that herself".

"fine" Muriel shut the door.

-----------

Marie could hear Carl and her mother through her window. She was miserable but didn't pay much heed to Carl's ultimatum, he would have to go home eventually and that would be the end of that. It wasn't, Carl stayed so long the sun sank, and his parents arrived to escort him home, still he refused to leave. He told his parents that he was worried for Marie's safety and wasn't going to leave until he had seen she was alright. With the added pressure of his parents Muriel caved and allowed them inside, Carl straightaway ran upstairs to her bedroom.

"Marie! What is the matter?"

Marie yelled through the door "Nothing! I don't like you anymore, please leave me alone".

Carl leaned against the door "You're not a very good actor you know. You can't just suddenly not like someone like that." There was no reply so he began to hammer on the door, his parents walked up the stairs to join him.

His dad yelled at the door "Come on Marie, show Carl you're in one piece and he'll leave you alone."

Finally the door slowly opened, Carl's mother shrieked when she saw her and Marie quickly slammed the door in their faces, unintentionally also catching Carl's finger. He howled out in pain. Marie opened the door again and crouched beside Carl, temporarily forgetting her face.

"I'm so sorry, are you o.k. Do you need ice?"

Carl held back his tears and managed to choke out "you look beautiful".

For a second Marie looked like she was about to cry but then she burst into laughter, which changed into sobbing. Carl pulled her close to him, and they shared their first kiss.

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**Marie is 25.**

Something was wrong, Marie could sense it from the moment she woke up. Something about the quality of the air, or was it the light, was different. Something was warped. It took a minute to recall what had happened the night before. She was lying in a hospital bed, she jack-knifed upright remembering the baby. Carl was in a seat beside the bed looking concerned.

"I have to see the baby" she said

"o.k, o.k, take it easy" he said helping her from her bed to the cradle. Marie took one sharp look at the child "that's not our child" she looked accusingly at Carl.

"Sure it is, what do you mean?"

"My baby had blue eyes and blonde hair"

"Well that's actually quite interesting you know, apparently all babies are born with blue eyes, they change when they grow"

"the blonde hair?"

"How could you tell with all that blood. Come on you're just tired" He took her gently back to the bed. Marie lay down and shut her eyes, but she knew something was wrong.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Birdman**

The sky hung its weary head on the land, its thoughts trailing silver across Cold Gate. The mist had seemed to have seeped into Anneliese's head and she hadn't been fully grounded for the entire day. But Shona who had other things on her mind herself had not really noticed.

Anneliese caught Shona looking at her sideways, she tilted her head to match with a puzzled air "What?" Anneliese asked.

Shona smiled, "I was just thinking. This weather sort of suits you, I know I make it sound like a fashion but you seem sort of lost and overawed by bright blue sky. You blend better with the subtle shades."

Anneliese smiled to herself amused. Now it was Shona's turn to ask "What?".

"Well... You have an artist's mind don't you. "blending", "subtle shades"."

"I would like to be an artist" her eyes drifted sadly out into the distance "No money in that profession though, my parents would never allow me."

"Johnny wants to be a lawyer, he would be able to support you." Anneliese said thoughtlessly.

At this Shona gave her a shove which almost toppled her. At first Anneliese was shocked but then realizing what she had just said began laughing. Red as a strawberry Shona was also laughing, "got our whole lives planned out don't you?". Anneliese hung her head, "sorry".

Shona recovered "Well, whilst we're being improper, who features in _your _life plan".

Anneliese tossed her head, "As if I trouble myself over such matters. We don't all lose our head over a boy Shona" she replied mock severely.

"You rat", the force of this statement was lost by the second word though as Shona was distracted by something.

"What is it" Anneliese asked.

"uhh... nothing, just wait here for a minute would you." Shona ran into the fog towards some barely visible silhouettes, as the mist claimed her Anneliese couldn't have followed if she tried. Without company the mist suddenly became more icy and oppressive, she hoped Shona would be able to find her again.

When Shona returned she was gasping for breath, "go... home... now!" Shona began shoving her when she didn't react fast enough, " come on, come on".

"o.k, o.k. What's going on" Anneliese began to run following Shona.

"No ... time, just come".

When they had reached Anneliese's little cottage Shone screamed out for Marie. Unsettlingly Marie seemed to know exactly what was going on "Anneliese go down into the cellar" she roughly steered her in that direction, once she was in, she slammed the door shut.

"Is anyone going to explain to me what's happening" Anneliese called through the trap door. But Marie wasn't in hearing distance, Anneliese could just make out that she was sending off Shona, something about her presence being too suspicious.

Anneliese pressed her ear up hard against the door. She soon heard footsteps then Marie's voice was whispering through the wood, "Don't worry dear, just remain absolutely silent. I'm sure we'll get this all cleared up in no time". This was not very reassuring, but it obviously going to be a while before she got an explanation so she walked down the stairs and curled up, trying to conserve warmth.

It was many hours before anything more happened. Anneliese felt completely knotted, her nerves were working over time, she was tired and hungry and her mind was flipping through emotions like nobody's business. Over time though an overriding feeling began to emerge, indignation. She had half a mind to just walk straight out and demand what the devil was going on. She managed to keep this bottled though as heavy footsteps were clomping over the trap door. A gruff voice could be heard clearly despite the barrier, "mind if we take a look down here Mrs. Hazeltine".

"Yes I mind!"

Whoever it was though didn't appear to pay much heed to Marie and began to fiddle with the door, Anneliese scrambled as far out of sight as possible. As the crack of light wormed in it was suddenly withdrawn, the door was slammed back down and their was obviously some sort of struggle taking place in the outside world. It was like being underwater down there, she felt detached from all else but her own feelings, but for a slightly muted worry for Marie's safety.

The next event happened like a dream. Light collapsed into the cellar, Marie's shrill voice shrieking for help. Just as she was preparing for flight or fight a burning heat traveled up from the small of her back, racing up her spine it hit her head with a flash of white light.

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Her new surroundings hit her, she was vaguely aware that some unaccounted for time had elapsed, it was as though she had delved in and out of the dreamworld barely registering the transition. She did not feel sleepy though, she felt oddly empowered, blood was pumping through her, she had never felt this energetic. Her senses were almost heightened to the point she couldn't make sense of the stimulus overload, there was a lot to take in.

She swung around 360 degrees hoping to get some idea of this new situation. There were people, they couldn't be real people though surely, with those identical expressions of shock. She laughed, she couldn't help it, it was all so mad. Suddenly some flint of her real self blighted this amusement, what was going on. Her thoughts began re-ordering themselves into some semblance of sanity.

There were people around her, many people. About half of Cold Gate in fact she calculated. Now extreme rationality seemed to take over, pushing her real feelings into her stomach pit, leaving them till a time she could take them out and examine them – now was definitely not the time.

"What's going on?", It seemed unlikely she would get an answer from the crowd standing in semi-circle around her. Now her eyes were more attuned to detailed she could see there was a patchwork of emotion taking place, but most were half turned from her, there was guilt, disgust, fear. Where was a sympathetic face?

In trying to pick out a familiar person she could run to her eye was lead to a figure lying on the ground who had begun to groan. It wasn't human.

It was a bulky mass of feathers beginning to unfurl. She took several steps back

"What is it?" she asked, though of course she knew. Everyone was now transfixed by the sight of this beast slowly rising, it was obviously in pain. People began to run from the crowd, but Anneliese's energy seemed to have forsaken her and it was all she could do to remain standing. For a second she wondered how such a heavy creature could possibly be aerodynamic. It was large muscular and, apart from the feathers and head, very human looking. Black feathers were falling off at every movement it made, even it's head looked slightly askew, as though it was toy which had suffered much wear. Both feathers and eyes shone dully, surely such a thing was not organic, it looked manufactured.

It raised it's arms/wings scattering the remainder of the crowd. It fixed Anneliese with one of it's dead eyes "If you're done kicking me, shall we go?" His voice was deep and resonant, it appeared to emit from elsewhere than that monstrous head.

"No! I never kicked you" She tried to run away but her legs wouldn't move.

"My groin says otherwise" He said with a dry chuckle. Then in two steps he was by her side, he wrapped one enormous arm around her waist and lifted, almost knocking the wind from her.

"help!", Anneliese cried out but at the same time wondering whether this was real, not some elaborately staged prank. She cried out half expecting it to be echoed back mockingly next day at school. Anneliese was never to return to school though.

The birdman turned towards the forest and began to stride at a fast pace, no one stopped him, Anneliese was yelling into space. As they stood at the boundary separating Cold Gate from the woods the birdman gave Anneliese a jolting squeeze.

"Give it up will you, you're not going to get any help from them" he gave a head jerk in the direction of Cold Gate. Anneliese was loath to follow any instruction from this creature and continued to pull at his arm and kick at the air, still screaming herself hoarse.

"Suit yourself", the birdman hitched her higher up his side and then they both vanished into the forest gloom. As soon as they entered the domain of the trees the sound shut out from Anneliese, she could not allow noise to penetrate through this new land, which seemed to demand reverence.

Anneliese was tired from the days events, her head keeped dropping as if to welcome sleep and then violently flung back awake from the movement of the Birdman. At first she thought it was a stress induced hallucination but even the birdman started to register the strange noise the woods seemed to transmit, trunk to trunk. The leaves rustled expectantly. A melodious call was sinking through the canopy, it was a hundred birds rolled harmoniously into one voice box.

The birdman halted, the sound became louder, then piercing. The birdman dropped Anneliese and put his hands over his ears as it became unbearable, Anneliese was too weak to do the same "whatever it is, let it come" she thought and closed her eyes.

She heard the birdman gasp and rolled over to gain a blurry view of the scene. There stood a surreal image of what looked like the birdman looking at a fun house mirror version of himself. With his beak held high there stood a slim, wiry birdman. Anneliese was in awe of this fun house birdman's wings, they were not arms in any sense, they were enormous glossy wings! He was a slender slice of the night with sun red beak and glowing eyes.

Except for his sheer bulk what a poor comparison the other birdman made, then the fun house birdman pulled off his head.

The bird-head was a mask, Anneliese's kidnapper was human. Though much stronger looking than the birdman the impostor fell to his knees and with his now only partially feathered arms tried to cover his head. "Please don't kill me" he said. The birdman said nothing, it was silent for many minutes. Then there was a loud scuffle as the impostor crawled away burying into the undergrowth.

The birdman appeared unperturbed by these events, ignoring Anneliese he turned the mask over in his hands. Turning to the owl perched on his shoulder he held it up to him "Pretty poor piece of craftsmanship, wouldn't you say Goyathlay?"

"indeed!" the owl replied

"completely out of proportion, how would you fly with such a head, let alone look aesthetically pleasing." The birdman muttered to himself.

"she seemed to be fooled" said Goyathlay giving a dismissive nod in Anneliese's direction.

In this comical scene Anneliese lost all sense of reality and replied in the same vein "Well!" she said "forgive me if in the midst of being kidnapped my observational capabilities were somewhat diminished".

"oooh she can string together polysyllabic words, clap clap." replied Goyathlay. The birdman just looked quizzically at her.

Anneliese stared back, now wide awake, "So you're the birdman?"

Thornton looked somewhat irritated "I prefer Thornton" he turned back to examining the mask "but I believe that's what they call me... yes".

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**Thank you so much for all the reviews, hope this chapter was o.k. I tried to put in more description, hope it didn't seem forced or superfluous. Then again I don't want to lose the short paragraph style completely because some people like it. I guess I just hope this chapter has more flow. When I read through it, it still feels like its progressing to quickly. Let me know your opinion. I'm afraid in my eagerness to post up this chapter there are probably even more punctuation mistakes than usual, so sorry. **


	8. Chapter 8

**This is my first update in ages. I plan to update more regulary from now on, so don't give up on me. I hope this entry is up to scratch, it will probably have the puctuation and grammar errors that usually plague my work - I do my best. Thank you so much for the reviews, but I'm greedy - give me more,more, more. The ending to this chapter may seem kind of random but it'll make sense later on.**

* * *

The Music

"Are you going to eat me"

Goyathlay burst into laughter, Thornton's eyes bugged out in shock.

"Goodness no! How repulsive – is that what they do in Cold Gate", he looked her up and down, "hmph, no wonder you're so sickly looking" he muttered to himself.

When Goyathlay got a grip on himself he explained to Thornton in a low voice that, "no, Cold Gatians do not eat each other".

"Well they consume a lot of animals don't they? Is it such a big leap to assume they also have humans on their menu".

"So, when are we going back to Cold Gate?" Anneliese cut in.

A pained expression crossed Thornton's face, "who says we're going back"

"What!" said Anneliese and Goyathlay in unison.

Anneliese looked puzzled, she struggled to keep the worry out of her countenance. Where was this going. Taken in by Thornton's and Goyathlay's playful banter she had forgotten the danger she was in, "Why not?" an unconscious hint of menace entered her voice.

Goyathlay looked at Thornton interested, as though he would like to know the answer to this himself.

"I don't want to have to walk all the way back to Cold Gate, " he tried to say in an irritated tone.

"You have wings!" Goyathlay flapped his own wings incredulously.

"Well do you have wings Anneliese? No I didn't think so."

Anneliese now remembered an important instance from her past, it awakened disquieting suspicions, "how do you know my name?" she asked.

Thornton waved her off , "I know everyone in Cold Gate".

"surprising, considering you don't like the town." said Goyathlay, taken down a new trail of thought

"yes, leaves me blue for weeks"

"... horrible cannibalistic lot that they are"

"Alright, would you let that go now?"

"Hey where'd she go?"

Goyathlay and Thornton had been so absorbed in their conversation they had failed to notice that Anneliese had slipped away.

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Did all the forest have limbs. Every leaf and twig seemed to want to scrape or catch at her but still she plunged on through the foliage. She was not going to be that monster's bride, his owl was interesting though- he seemed to truly believe the birdman was going to take her back to Cold Gate. She was not going to be so naive, the fact that he knew her name made her shiver, how long had he been watching her? Cold Gate was right to be so protective and afraid.

Yet, however afraid she was of Thornton and his friend, she would not have taken off into the unknown like that if not for the music. The music had been present ever since she entered woods, but only when she had stood still long enough to get her head together was she attuned to it. There was a slight hum which underlaid the shuffling and shifting of the trees, when you focused on it, it became quite obvious, she could even pick up the general location of its emittance. With the evil which sifted through every layer of this forest, following your instincts was not really such a risk.

-------------

"I could easily fly over and find her..."

"these woods have a habit of concealing what you want" Thornton looked distant.

Thornton was clearly on another planet, but Goyathlay was not going to stand for this he wanted answers. "Care to tell what that situation before was about. Last time I checked you were not in want of a wife. What's the deal with scaring the wits out of that girl, just take her back to Cold Gate."

"She's a changeling"

"Even if she is... so what?"

"She gravitates towards magic. She can lead us exactly where we want to go." Thornton seemed to break out of his semi-trance, "and what do you mean "_even_ if she is" Of course she is, surely you sensed it."

"Well... yes. But come on she can't be. You and I have seen changelings, and lets face it they're never quite ... all there. The isolation from their own world drives them mad."

"There's an exception to every rule. She must've developed some way of coping with it."

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Though the Woods was known for its uneasiness, it had cozy hollows too. Little sanctuaries from the restlessness that surrounds them. Elk Mound was one of these, but nowhere can stay safe forever.

Chelian was singing, bad times had been plaguing the town, with all those children disappearing. But now she had a good feeling in her heart. There were birds at her window side, they hadn't visited for so long. Soft green light was dancing about the room, if she was younger she would've danced too.

There was a knock at the door. That must be Nolan she thought. "Took you long en..." it was not Nolan. It was a young lady. Chelian had never seen such an unnerving beauty. Her yellow hair was a tangle, her eyes burned blue and seemed to be showing more white than was natural. And she was so skinny, Chelian just wanted to feed up the poor weedy thing.

"come in, come in" Chelian ushered her in and she didn't reject. She didn't really seem to be aware of anything or anyone. "can I offer you anything. Food?" Chelian so hoped she would eat something, how could legs that thin support anyone?

The girl suddenly looked right at Chelian, "do you have a daughter?".

Those eyes were now beginning to scare Chelian, she looked away and focused on fixing up the girl a meal, "no, no daughters. Won't find many girls of your age here I'm afraid. Haven't you heard of the kidnappings".

"Are there no girls left at all?"

"I can't say dear" What a odd question, she thought to herself. She picked up the sandwiches and walked back into the lounge. But as she got closer to the girl her hands began to shake, she could barely hold the tray. Have I become so frail? Were her last thoughts as the room began to tilt, her last vision was of those smoldering blue eyes.

"Nolan!" she cried out feebly.


	9. Chapter 9

The Forest Fates

Anneliese's conscience felt dulled, the music had wormed into her mind and was now wrapping itself around her thoughts tightly. She didn't like this feeling of losing control, yet she was already to far gone to really care "I don't have the will power to fight this" she thought. A part of her knew she should but she couldn't figure out why, did she care for the Cold Gate that had betrayed her? If she beat this what was there to go back to?

There was the mystery of why she was kidnapped, but was it worth focusing enough to solve it?

Of course all these thoughts were coming far too late. The music could do that to you, make you think you could get out of it's web if you really tried – a false sense of security.

Her legs were on autopilot, she could close her eyes and be simply carried towards the source. It was now an almost pleasant state of apathy, she was in the hands of the universe now – she could just let go and observe what happened. As she was carried further the forest began to rearrange itself, the placement of the trees became less haphazard and ordered themselves into a corridor – the effect was no less wild however. A vine twisted along the side of the corridor like a hand rail, Anneliese let her hand drift over it's tendrils.

When her fingers hit something sharp she woke up and stood still trying to work out where her mind was. At this interlude the forest seemed to emit a groan and a rush of air pulled her into a clearing. The tree branches hung over above, creating a ceiling, blacking out whatever sky existed outside. Anneliese, in this brief moment of clarity, had summoned up her wits so that the music, which had started up again with more force than before, could not find a foothold.

Her senses sharpened Anneliese picked up on more subtle details. From trunk to trunk in the almost circular clearing clung silvery wires, making a complex tapestry. If she had looked even closer she would've deciphered a more disturbing fact, but at that moment the music cut out along with some intangible breeze.

At that moment her hypnotism was truly over and the clearing now felt oppressive, she looked around, searching for an exit but all she could see was those wires creating a silver cage. She reached out to touch one of the wires to test whether they were as delicate as they looked.

"You sure you want to do that" A woody voice chuckled.

Anneliese jumped as a head rolled over to her feet.

"it's rude to stare" The head spoke, but the sound seemed to come from all around her rather than from it's mouth.

Annelise was still stunned into silence, she began to walk backwards away from the head.

"Don't touch the wires!" the head's face contorted, a difficult action considering it appeared to have been chiseled out of wood. "Look if you really want to find out what they do I'll call for Body, she has the scissors".

"What are you?" Anneliese asked.

"You mean: Who are you?" seeing Anneliese wasn't going to correct herself she continued, "I'm one of the forest fates, Body will be along shortly. Sit down you look tired."

Anneliese didn't sit.

"suit yourself" The head tossed her weedy hair then hopped out of the clearing.

Anneliese looked around again, now not for escape but to keep her nerves occupied as her mind numbly played over what she had just seen.

The next character to enter the cage was even stranger. Unlike the head which could just hop over or roll under the wires, this being had to cut herself a hole. Every time one of the wires was snipped a cry was heard echoing through the forest.

"Don't cut so many, sheesh! Do you want the whole forest to drop dead?" the head chided the creature. Anneliese wondered how such a creature could judge how many wires it cut as it was headless. It was as tree-like as the head, a hunched over elderly being – it almost looked as though you could fit the head and body together like a jigsaw.

The body and head stood together for a few minutes as though posing for a photograph. The head looked pityingly at Anneliese "now if you'll just sit down, maybe we can give you some answers".

"Answers!" Anneliese lifted looked up wonderingly and laughed, she needed more answers than anyone could give.

"Alright dear, no need to get hysterical" said the head "I'm sure you must have many questions".

Using the defense mechanism she had adapted from living forest life she decided to play along. Pretend it was reality, when clearly it was a dream.

She sat down, crossing her legs like a school child, " Why was I kidnapped?"

"Pfft, how am I supposed to know. Don't you want to know about us?"

"Fine. Who are you?"

"We are the forest fates. And this...", the body gestured at the web which surrounded them "Is our work. Let me give you a demonstration. Anyone you dislike Anneliese?"

"Melanie" Annelise answered without even bothering to ask how the head knew her name, that's how good her defense mechanism was.

"ooh that's a good one, her line was weak anyway. What with that Larissa on the loose."

The body shuffled over to one of the thin wires and snapped it in half with her scissors. The moment the wire was broken Anneliese got a sickening feeling in her stomach, what had she done? She had a prickly sensation at the back of her throat and she knew she was about to throw up, she leaned over.

"oh no no. Don't do that dear" The head rolled quickly to her side "It's just a game, a wonderful game."

"a game?" Anneliese said weakly.

"Yes yes, A . Game ." she said as though to a very small child. "look you have a go. Body, give her the scissors."

Body dropped the scissors at Anneliese's knees, but she didn't want to touch them. The head sighed "Look around you Anneliese. Look at the beautiful web that surrounds us. What do you feel?"

Anneliese's eyes never left the ground, "empty" she told the floor.

"Now don't make me mad Anneliese" The head hopped up and nudged Anneliese's head "do you really have no idea how special this place is? Were you not drawn here?" The head rolled closer to the wires and looked up at them in awe " So fragile, yet feel the strength that runs through them. Learn the stories behind every thread. Watch them be created..." the head lent against the wire behind her loosening it "shape their creation".

The head rolled back over to Anneliese "you could happily spend the rest of your life here. Unlimited power. Have you ever had power Anneliese. What do you plan to do with the rest of your life, Cold Gate is no place for you."

While the head fixed Anneliese with her intense gaze. Body dragged itself over to the wires, it gently strummed the thread. With their reverberation the music began again.

"Not everyone hears the music. Only a very special type of person. Listen to the music, what is it telling you?"

Anneliese groaned "not again". She picked up the scissors and turned to Body "Stop that right now!". The head looked disappointed until Anneliese asked, "Where is the Birdman's line?".

"Ahhh yes another excellent choice. See you were born for this role". The head spun around hmmming to herself. "Body point to one hundred and twelve up from the Blacksprig tree".

As the slow process of Body moving began the head chattered happily to Anneliese, "Yes it's about time his string was cut. He's made enemies of half the kingdom, but look at that thread – as strong as any of them."

Anneliese walked over to the thread Body was pointing to, holding the scissors loosely at her side. Head called after her, "you might want it get a better grip on those scissors dear, they're not toys you know". Anneliese ignored her. She found the Birdman's line, with her free hand she lightly touched the string, as the life trembled against her fingers she could sense his past, his character even very vaguely his future. Suddenly it cemented itself in her mind that he was not evil, though she had the feeling she knew this all along. Her gaze calmly followed the line, till she saw that it crossed with another. She let her fingers touch this thread, and realized it was her own. She lifted up the scissors and rested them against the thread, trying to block out the head's shrill voice as she called out, "You don't want to cut that one. That's the wrong thread! Are you listening!"

Anneliese's hand froze as caws resounded through the woods. Then the ceiling fell in.


End file.
